In His Steps...

Numbers 15, 16:1-3

2009-03-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

"They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community." Numbers 16:33

In these two chapters we see so much of what keeps us in "community" with God and his people. They are told to regularly present their offerings to "please the Lord"... and as something for the entire community to do together. Why?

I think our Heavenly father is so blessed to see His children gather around the "table" (communion), in unity over Him as they enjoy one another.

Sometimes our dinner table has many laughs, stories and fun with with Dad, Mom, Grandma and kids. Sometimes it has arguing, bad moods and attitudes. As a Father, guess which one I like and which one I feel most proud and honored by? (Duh right!) (Not to say that so many times it's my bad ungodly attitude that sets the temp. of our time!).

Last... complaining always breaks fellowship and effects the one complaining most of all! Years ago I was stuck by this NT verse in Corinthians, looking back at the wilderness journey of Israel. A verse where Paul deeply warns us not to be like those complaining Hebrews.

"nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer."

1Cr 10:10

The destruction of a complainer mostly destroys themselves, and only cuts them off from the "community". Have you ever noticed that people who complain about other people, tend to have no friends? The person who complains about family... has no family around them? Complains about their job... ends up with no work or a job they don't like? If you want to keep the Destroyer far from your heart, home and life... have a thank-full heart and one that praises God in all things, and for all things and for everyone in your life!

Numbers 13:26-33, Numbers 14

2009-03-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

"We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes" (Num.13:33)...

No doubt we are sometimes entirely hindered by our view of God's power in us and through us. Instead of Kings kids... we feel little in our own eyes. Things to consider about a grasshopper (locust) though.

- In large numbers, in a blink of an eye they can do immeasurable damage to crops and land stripping it clean of its crops and vegetation. (So can we together working for the Kingdom of God to advance the gospel)

- They can take grand leaps - (call it faith!)

There is a really a difference between humility and a believer's "God esteem". God wants us to move always within the frame of mind... I, that is in myself... can do nothing of great conquest(humility), but in Christ and in His strength I can do all things!

Phl 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Numbers 14 - summarizes the continual complaining the Israelite's had while in the wilderness. Much of this complaining is found in Exodus chapters 15,16,17 in fuller detail. Reading back through these chapters... I am reminded of the three remedies for a complaining heart.

(Ex.15) - A BITTER HEART... Moses was told to throw in a tree to sweeten the nasty waters. The cross will always help sweeten my bitter heart and drinking of Jesus, The Living Water. He puts an end to my complaining against others and rids me of a bitter attitude.

(Ex.16) - BITTER APPETITES... They were still craving Egypt in their bellies (the world). Moses is told they will now eat of the bread from Heaven. Jesus is our Bread of Life. I know longer need the "stuff" of this world to make me happy and like Paul I find contentment whether I am "abased" or "abounding"... no more murmurings!

(Ex.17) - BITTER LEADERSHIP... "And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me?" Here Moses is told to smite the rock for the people's thirst. No leader can be the rock like Jesus is for us. He is the one stricken for my sin and He is the one who supplies my every need.

The true source of all complaining in my life is always found when I don't come to the true source... Jesus!

Jer 2:13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, [And] hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water."

VOICES IN THE WHIRLWIND

2008-11-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

"To everything there is a season;
A time for every purpose under heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1

So much of Ecclesiastes reflects the writings of a man's inner heart when he looses touch with God in his/her life. Without God, so much of everything becomes "vanity of vanities" as "The Preacher" writes and a "chasing after the wind". He concludes from this long self-centered journey... a very lonely and "meaningless" existence explored out thoroughly in most every region of life. What a great book to read for those who seek answers and ultimate contentment or satisfaction apart from God... the creator and life giver to all things. This is true not only for all of life itself, but also for every event we walk through day by day... moment by moment.

Do I recognize God in control of EVERYTHING in my life? Do I view everything as from God and as something He has willed for my life? Do we believe God belongs in all of life's "things"? Do we believe that God brings purpose to every season and to every event in our life? Is there really a "time" for everything in our life including the negative experiences... sufferings, hardships and trials?

I enjoy things being born... but not dying. I like planting... but not the being "plucked" part. Healing yes... killing no! Building up is God's way... but does He "break down"? (Jer.1:10) I enjoy a good laugh anytime... but what about mourning? (Rom.12:15)

Recently, two very good friends in my life are facing very, very hard circumstances. Circumstances that would look to shake any iron solid Christian away from his/her faith and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of their God. Frankly, my own heart has wanted to melt and has been shaken simply just by being near to them. I realize that apart from God's grace... I nor my family would ever make it through what they are facing. God be with these dear friends I love.

Only God's Glory makes any sense out life and it's "seasons". Ultimately we must come to terms with the "for what" in our lives instead trying to get answers to the "for why's".

No doubt the book of Job is a great character study, not so much for the why "stuff" happens to us in life... but for the purpose of God who allows the good and the bad to come upon us. Does God answer Job telling him why his life has suffered and went through the loss of most everything precious to him? No. But does he tell him the "for what"and give purpose to Job? Yes... but how?

Not by answering Job... but by questioning him. Not exactly what Job's friends thought he needed, or for that matter, what any of us think we need or tend to offer when it comes to life's problems. We need... ANSWERS (or so we think!). We run to the closest answering therapist (or hair dresser, friend, etc.) and demand to know why? A place of knowing and having answers allows a person control and being out of control demands something called... TRUST. God desires our trust and knows we can only offer our true trusting in Him when we are out of control!

Interesting how chapter 38-41 begin.

Chap.38 - "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said; "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.""
Chap. 39 - "Do you know the time..." (speaking of His creation)
Chap.40 - "Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said: "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.""
Chap.41 - "Can you draw out..." (again, speaking of controlling over His creation)

Job finally comes to this conclusion in chapter 42... (*notice how it correlates to these questions listed above). "Then Job answered The Lord and said... "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, "Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?" Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, "I will question you, and you shall answer Me." I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

I don't know what life will bring tomorrow good or bad. But maybe the best way to see and to hear God comes out of whirlwinds... a place where I'm out of control. Ask people where they have learned the most in life... they will usually share with you a whirlwind experience. A deep trial or struggle they've gone through or an adversity they have faced and conquered.

Job 42:12 "Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;" The better comes after the storm and the trust that God never means for these storms to our harm or destruction. (Jer.29:11) Even if the whirlwind seems to be most dark and the winds seem to lay waste of all that's in site... God has a plan and a purpose beyond our knowing and for His glory. It seems that for God... us knowing Him is always more important to Him... then for us to know why. All of life only finds its meaning in trusting God.

KNOWING DEEPER

2007-10-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ok... I have been way overdue posting something new. So I thought I could share a very cool Word I came across in the scriptures this morning....

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."

Here Paul informs us of a very powerful truth; not only are we known by God... but as believers we can know Him in the "deep things". In fact, we can know Him even as deeply as the spirit of man knows him/her self. I think this is so deep! He (God) makes available to us through His Spirit a oneness with Him so deeply... we should know Him today even as intimately as we know ourselves. What do you love... what does God love today? What's your deepest desire in life.. what is God's deepest desire for your life today?

This really sums up well all that Paul is trying to teach us in chapters one & two of 1 Corinthians. God has imparted to us a wisdom that is so much deeper than the wisdom of this world (read 1 Cor. 1:18-25). Truly, as a Spirit filled people we possess the deepest wisdom and knowledge which "eye has not seen" and we can always know Gods heart on any matter. The great thing is this is been "freely given to us by God". (vs.12) I don't have to go searching for this wisdom, or go to college to recieve it. I only need to look no further than that which I already posses in my relationship with God in Christ. This wisdom does not impart itself through man's method of learning (vs.13), but imparts itself through a relationship with the eternal divine wisdom found in Christ Himself...

"in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col.2:3)

I Love Jesus More Than Pizza

2007-06-20T22:35:00.001-07:00

Our church started on Sunday a 7 day fast. As I wrote in my last blog, a time for alignment. Every morning we start in prayer and every evening we meet for communion and worship.
So far... 3 days into this fast, and it has been amazing. Last year was my first time fasting 7 days and wow... what an incredible exsperience that was. So this year I was looking forward to this time of putting away the God of the belly, and seeking a focused time with our Father in Heaven.
Tonight I came home with my kidos to watch them break their fast (a couple of meals during their day) with PIZZA... ouch! Oh well... God is supplying a manna far better than pizza.
During Monday morning prayer, I felt the Lord speak to me and instruct me to focus on fasting "forward or towards" and not to focus on what I am fasting "from". Last year I was so focused on just trying not to eat... I really didn't taste His goodness until the end of the fast. This time... I am fasting "towards" Him. Wow, I can't tell you how much more powerful this week has been already. It seemed like Day 1 was like last years Day 7. God is good!

No More Superman

2007-06-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

ALIGNMENT

"Is the adjustment of an object in relation with other objects, or a static orientation of some object or set of objects in relation to others."

"Alignment makes much sense when we think of our universe... God's creation and the mind blowing design and balance He has ordered. Much of Creation reflects both upon the higher realm of Heavenly truths, and upon the lower realm of Humanly truths. What do I mean by this?

In Romans 1:20... Paul tells us that we see "for since the creation of this world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
Colossians 1:17... Paul again teaching on the relationship between Heaven and Creation says "And He (Jesus) is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

So...

All of Creation is held together by Him
Nature reflects Gods Truths about Him
Our lives are a part of His Creation and we are to live in Harmony with Him

So what's the point?

ALIGNMENT...

God has placed His Son Jesus, to be at the center of all things. When He is at the center ("Barycenter" to be scientifically exact... check out on Wikipedia), all things come into a spiritually balanced "orbit" and way of living.

My life... your life... often like our cars, get out of ALIGNMENT. We all have many planets or relationships (ie my marriage, my children, my job, my faith) attempting to stay whithin orbit (balance) in our lives. Like our own solar system, it only takes one of those little or big planets getting out of ALIGNMENT, to send everything else spinning off into celestial chaos.

So often... I get out of ALIGNMENT in life. Sometimes we mis-align our own selves by trying to focus on and self-align any one of these areas. This is called being "self-foucused" and attempting to use "self-help" or will power to fix things. Face it... any one of these relationships in my life is too massive and too big to handle. Yeah... Superman might be able to grab the earth and re-set its rotation... but not me, and the minute I try, I have just brought the wrong thing into focus! To "Focus on the Family" or job... or ?... puts that object at the center. Problem is, those planets were never meant to be the attractional force binding all and making this life system stay in harmony. So what glues our lives together?

Hebrews says it so well... "looking (or fixing our eyes) unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..." Heb.12:2.

A need to re-align? Center your life upon Jesus. Focus upon Him and He will align your family. Strive to know Him and he will work out the job. Stay close to the Father... and you will be a better one (or Mother) for it. Take yourself out of the middle by "trying harder" or figuring it out. Don't be at the "center of your universe". If He created you... than let Him order your life.

So... No more Superman!

Under the Stars

2007-06-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well... our fellas headed off to the mountains to spend 24hrs hangin with one another and to spend time with our Father. We broke our one day fast with steaks on the BBQ... rrrrrr! Then we hung out at the Mitchells cabin throughout Friday night. What a beautiful scene we had under the stars as we slept outside on the deck of their cabin. A great time we spent in worship and then baggin it outside as we went to sleep under the stars.
I believe we heard the Lord. That's why we really went. To know Him together as we seek Him one of heart. The next day by a creek... we talked and shared our hearts with our Father first... then with one another. So what was the giant revelation you might ask?

Love

Simple... most important... clear.
We went down by the creek to talk shop and to engineer this thing we call ministry. Yeah, like every typical Pastor... I had all my plans of what we were going to talk about... and then... love. That's all Lord! We've got places to go... people to save... and that's the Word... YEP!

1 Corinthians 13

"THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith,

so that I could remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned,
but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy;

love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,

is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails."

Core Values, Goals & Vision

2007-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Worship - Loving God

As Jesus taught His disciples that the greatest of all commands is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind." (Matt.22:37)

Before we minister "for God", we desire to be disciples who are known for our ministry "to God". At The Way whether in teaching, worship or in our fellowship... we look to be "Christo-centric". We believe our faith is more about a person than a program, and our church is more of an organism, than an organization.

Body Life... DNA:
All living organisms have genetic information in the cell that is capable of self-replication and multiplying. As the body of Christ, we believe the life of Jesus also has a DNA that every disciple (cell) is called to live in and replicate in others. Christians have called this the Great Commandment (Matt.22:37-39) and Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) lifestyle. At The Way, we desire to live out and obey together in community these great callings of Jesus. Here is our DNA...

Worship (Loving God) - A deep commitment to living in relationship with God and to eachother through His Word. Jesus clearly stated that we can not live by bread alone (the body)... but we must also feed our Spirit man on God's Word (Matt.4:4) This is not an optional habit for believers... our spiritual lives depend on this!

Community (Loving People) - The very nature of God lives in Oneness, in Unity and within community, co-existing in fellowship (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) together as One. Jesus prayed His followers would experience and take on this same nature of Gods love and unity for one another (John 17). This in turn would display to the world God's love and express His reality letting them know He is real and we are His disciples (John 13:35). We believe this deep connection goes beyond casual worldly friendships, and is cultivated through regular weekly prayer, reading of scripture together, confessing of sin one to another, and being on God's Glocal (global & local) mission together.

Mission (Loving the World) - John 20:21 Jesus declares "... as the Father has sent me, I also send you." We are a church that believes in living on mission. That every believer is called to Glocal missions which is patterned in...
Acts 1:8b "... and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
1. Our Jerusalem - our families, jobs, neighborhoods and locally here in Bakersfield.
2. Our Judea and Samaria - Crossing cultural boundaries of race, ethnicity, and nationalities on a local or near border nation (Mexico) .
3. Our End of the earth - Reaching beyond to today's "gentiles"... un-reached people groups of differing cultures, languages and religious faiths.

Goals:
Starting on 07/07/07... The Way Fellowship will be "conceived" and start its "gestation" phase of 9 months until launch. This 9 months will be broken up into three... three month terms/phases. Our goals for each phase are as follows...
Phase One (July, August & September) - Designate Core Team (Acts 13)
Phase Two (October, November & December) - Weekly meetings and Team Development)
Phase Three (January, February, & March) - Community Evangelism and Relationship Building
Launch (April 6th, 2008)

Vision:

Our vision is simple...

Worship = Loving God

Community = Loving People
Mission = Loving the World

Read article below entitilled "Himself" BY A.B. Simpson

HIMSELF
By: A. B. Simpson

I wish to speak to you about Jesus, and Jesus only. I often hear people say, "I wish I could get hold of Divine Healing, but I cannot." Sometimes they say, "I have got it." If I ask them, "What have you got?" the answer is sometimes, "I have got the blessing", sometimes it is, "I have got the theory"; sometimes it is, "I have got the healing"; sometimes, "I have got the sanctification." But I thank God we have been taught that it is not the blessing, it is not the healing, it is not the sanctification, it is not the thing, it is not the it that you want, but it is something better. It is "the Christ"; it is Himself. How often that comes out in His Word "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses", Himself "bare our sins in his own body on the tree"! It is the person of Jesus Christ we want. Plenty of people get the idea and do not get anything out of it. They get it into their head, and it into their conscience, and it into their will; but somehow they do not get Him into their life and spirit, because they have only that which is the outward expression and symbol of the spiritual reality. I once saw a picture of the Constitution of the United States, very skillfully engraved in copper plate, so that when you looked at it closely it was nothing more than a piece of writing, but when you looked at it at a distance, it was the face of George Washington. The face shone out in the shading of the letters at a little distance, and I saw the person, not the words, nor the ideas; and I thought, "'That is the way to look at the Scriptures and understand the thoughts of God, to see in them the face of love, shining through and through; not ideas, nor doctrines, but Jesus Himself as the Life and Source and sustaining Presence of all our life."

I prayed a long time to get sanctified, and sometimes I thought I had it. On one occasion I felt something, and I held on with a desperate grip for fear I should lose it, and kept awake the whole night fearing it would go, and, of course, it went with the next sensation and the next mood. Of course, I lost it because I did not hold on to Him. I had been taking a little water from the reservoir, when I might have all the time received from Him fullness through the open channels. I went to meetings and heard people speak of joy. I even thought I had the joy, but I did not keep it because I had not Himself as my joy. At last He said to me Oh so tenderly "My child, just take Me, and let Me be in you the constant supply of all this, Myself." And when at last I got my eyes off my sanctification, and my experience of it, and just placed them on the Christ in me, I found, instead of an experience, the Christ larger than the moment's need, the Christ that had all that I should ever need who was given to me at once, and for ever! And when I thus saw Him, it was such rest; it was all right, and right for ever. For I had not only what I could hold that little hour, but also in Him, all that I should need the next and the next and so on, until sometimes I get a glimpse of what it will be a million years afterwards, when we shall "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father" (Matt. 13: 43), and have "all the fullness of God."

And so I thought the healing would be an it too, that the Lord would take me like the old run-down clock, wind me up, and set me going like a machine. It is not thus at all. I found it was Himself coming in instead and giving me what I needed at the moment. I wanted to have a great stock, so that I could feel rich; a great store laid up for many years, so that I would not be dependent upon Him the next day; but He never gave me such a store. I never had more holiness or healing at one time than I needed for that hour. He said: "My child, you must come to Me for the next breath because I love you so dearly I want you to come all the time. If I gave you a great supply, you would do without Me and would not come to Me so often; now you have to come to Me every second, and lie on My breast every moment." He gave me a great fortune, placed thousands and millions at credit, but He gave a cheque-book with this one condition, "You never can draw more than you need at the time." Every time a cheque was wanted, however, there was the name of Jesus upon it, and so it brought more glory to Him, kept His name before the heavenly world and God was glorified in His Son.

I had to learn to take from Him my spiritual life every second, to breathe Himself in as I breathed, and breathe myself out. So, moment by moment for the spirit, and moment by moment for the body, we must receive. You say, "Is not that a terrible bondage, to be always on the strain ?" What, on the strain with one you love, your dearest Friend ? Oh, no! It comes so naturally, so spontaneously, so like a fountain, without consciousness, without effort, for true life is always easy, and overflowing.

And now, thank God, I have Him, not only what I have room for, but that which I have not room for, but for which I shall have room, moment by moment, as I go on into the eternity before me. I am like the little bottle in the sea, as full as it will hold. The bottle is in the sea, and the sea is in the bottle; so I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. But, besides that bottleful in the sea, there is a whole ocean beyond; the difference is, that the bottle has to be filled over again, every day, evermore.

Now the question for each of us is not "What think you of Bethshan, and what think you of divine healing?" but "What think you of Christ?" There came a time when there was a little thing between me and Christ. I express it by a little conversation with a friend who said, "You were healed by faith." "Oh, no," I said, "I was healed by Christ." What is the difference? There is a great difference. There came a time when even faith seemed to come between me and Jesus. I thought I should have to work up the faith, so I labored to get the faith. At last I thought I had it; that if I put my whole weight upon it, it would hold. I said, when I thought I had got the faith, "Heal me." I was trusting in myself, in my own heart, in my own faith. I was asking the Lord to do something for me because of something in me, not because of something in Him. So the Lord allowed the devil to try my faith, and the devil devoured it like a roaring lion, and I found myself so broken down that I did not think I had any faith. God allowed it to be taken away until I felt I had none. And then God seemed to speak to me so sweetly, saying, "Never mind, my child, you have nothing. But I am perfect Power, I am perfect Love, I am Faith, I am your Life, I am the preparation for the blessing, and then I am the Blessing, too. I am all within and all without, and all for ever." It is just having "The Faith of God" (Mark 11: 22, margin). "And the life I now live in the flesh, I live," not by faith on the Son of God, but "by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2 20). That is it. It is not your faith. You have no faith in you, any more than you have life or anything else in you. You have nothing but emptiness and vacuity, and you must be just openness and readiness to take Him to do all. You have to take His faith as well as His life and healing, and have simply to say, "I live by the faith of the Son of God." My faith is not worth anything. If I had to pray for anyone, I would not depend upon my faith at all. I would say, "Here, Lord, am I. If you want me to be the channel of blessing to this one just breathe into me all that I need." It is simply Christ, Christ alone.

Now, is your body yielded to Christ for Him thus to dwell and work in you? The Lord Jesus Christ has a body as wel1 as you only it is perfect; it is the body, not of a man, but of the Son of man. Have you considered why He is called the Son of man? The Son of man means that Jesus Christ is the one typical, comprehensive, universal, all-inclusive Man. Jesus is the one man that contains in Himself all that man ought to be all that man needs to have. It is all in Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead and the fullness of a perfect manhood has been embodied in Christ, and He stands now as the summing-up of all that man needs. His spirit is all that your spirit needs, and He just gives us Himself. His body possesses all that your body needs. He has a heart beating with the strength that your heart needs. He has organs and functions redundant with life, not for Himself, but for humanity. He does not need strength for Himself. The energy which enabled Him to rise and ascend from the tomb, above all the forces of nature, was not for Himself. That marvellous body belongs to your body. You are a member of His body. Your heart has a right to draw from His heart all that it needs. Your physical life has a right to draw from His physical life its support and strength, and so it is not you, but it is just the precious life of the Son of God. Will you take Him thus today, and then you will not be merely healed, but you will have a new life for all you need, a flood of life that will sweep disease away, and then remain a fountain of life for all your future need. Oh, take Him in His fullness.

It seems to me as if I might just bring you a little talisman today, as if God had given me a little secret for every one here and said to me, "Go and tell them, if they will take it, it will be a talisman of power wherever they go, and it will carry them through difficulty, danger, fear, life, death, eternity." If I could stand on this platform and say, "I have received from heaven a secret of wealth and success which God will give freely, through my hand, to everybody who will take it," I am sure you would need a larger hall for the people who would come. But, dear friends, I show you in His Word a truth which is more precious. The Apostle Paul tells us that there is a secret, a great secret which was hidden from ages and from generations (Col. 1: 26), which the world was seeking after in vain, which wise men from the East hoped they might find, and God says it "is now made manifest to his saints"; and Paul went through the world just to tell it to those that were able to receive it; and that simple secret is just this "Christ in you the hope of glory."

The word "mystery" means secret; this is the great secret. And I tell you today, nay, I can give you, if you will take it from Him, not from me-I can give you a secret which has been to me, oh, so wonderful! Years ago I came to Him burdened with guilt and fear; I tried that simple secret, and it took away all my fear and sin. Years passed on, and I found sin overcoming me and my temptations too strong for me. I came to Him a second time, and He whispered to me, "Christ in you," and I had victory, rest and blessing.

Then the body broke away in every sort of way. I had always worked hard, and from the age of fourteen I studied and labored and spared no strength. I took charge of a large congregation at the age of twenty-one; I broke down utterly half a dozen times and at my last constitution was worn out. Many times I feared I should drop dead in my pulpit. I could not ascend any height without a sense of suffocation, because of a broken-down heart and exhausted nervous system. I heard of the Lord's healing, but I struggled against it. I was afraid of it. I had been taught in theological seminaries that the age of the supernatural was past, and I could not go back from my early training. My head was in my way, but at last when I was brought to attend "the funeral of my dogmatics," as Mr. Schrenck says, "the Lord whispered to me the little secret, 'Christ in you'; and from that hour I received Him for my body as I had done for my soul. I was made so strong and well that work has been a perfect delight. For years I have spent my summer holiday in the hot city of New York, preaching and working amongst the masses, as I never did before; besides the work of our Home and College and an immense mass of library work and much besides. But the Lord did not merely remove my sufferings. It was more than simple healing. He so gave me Himself that I lost the painful consciousness of physical organs. That is the best of the health He gives. I thank the Lord that He keeps me from all morbid, physical consciousness and a body that is the object of anxious care, and gives a simple life that is a delight and a service for the Master, that is a rest and joy.

Then, again, I had a poor sort of a mind, heavy and cumbrous, that did not think or work quickly. I wanted to write and speak for Christ and to have a ready memory, so as to have the little knowledge I had gained always under command. I went to Christ about it, and asked if He had anything for me in this way. He replied, "Yes, my child, I am made unto you Wisdom." I was always making mistakes, which I regretted, and then thinking I would not make them again; but when He said that He would be my wisdom, that we may have the mind of Christ, that He could cast down imaginations and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, that He could make the brain and head right, then I took Him for all that. And since then I have been kept free from this mental disability, and work has been rest. I used to write two sermons a week, and it took me three days to complete one. But now, in connection with my literary work, I have numberless pages of matter to write constantly besides the conduct of very many meetings a week, and all is delightfully easy to me. The Lord has helped me mentally, and I know He is the Saviour of our mind as well as our spirit.

Well, then, I had an irresolute will. I asked, ' Cannot you be a will to me?" He said, "Yes, my child, it is God who worketh in you to will and to do." Then He made me to learn how and when to be firm, and how and when to yield. Many people have a decided will, but they do not know how to hold on just at the proper moment. So, too, I came to Him for power for His work and all the resources for His service, and He has not failed me.

And so I would say, if this precious little secret of "Christ in you," will help you, you may have it. May you make better use of it than I! I feel I have only begun to learn how well it works. Take it and go on working it out, through time and eternity-Christ for all, grace for grace, from strength to strength, from glory to glory, from this time forth and even for evermore.

HIMSELF
By: A. B. Simpson

Once it was the blessing,
Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling,
Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted,
Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing,
Now Himself alone.

Once 'twas painful trying,
Now 'tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation,
Now the uttermost.
Once 'twas ceaseless holding,
Now He holds me fast;
Once 'twas constant drifting,
Now my anchor's cast.

Once 'twas busy planning,
Now 'tis trustful prayer;
Once 'twas anxious caring,
Now He has the care.
Once 'twas what I wanted
Now what Jesus says;
Once 'twas constant asking,
Now 'tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working,
His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him,
Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted,
Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored,
Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus,
Now I know He's mine;
Once my lamps were dying,
Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited,
Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored
Safe within the vail.

In His Steps

2007-06-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Psalm 85:13 "Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway ("the way" kjv)"

Why join the blog club?

I guess some are looking to unlock their once hidden diaries and allow the entire world to read their thoughts out loud. It actually seems kind of silly to me. I am not really looking for a "virtual therapy", but looking to find a place where those God ideas can get out of my head. I guess blog is a good word for my thoughts before they become articulated... BLOG... it kind of sounds like "Fog"... and so fits my thinking well.
My wife said I should start writing. I am not really sure why she thinks I should write... maybe so I will stop boring her with my constant babbling about the un-ending blog in my head of God and church stuff! My head is full of blog on some of these topics...

1. How to know Jesus better
2. What does God want for "The Way Fellowship" (The New Daughter Church in Bakersfield)
3. How to be a better Servant Leader
4. Waiting and Moving... a continual tension in following God.

I will leave my family scrap booking & blogging up to my beautiful and very artistic wife which you can check out at www.oneofthesedaysmarlo.blogspot.com. She is a much better writer and photographer than me.

And so starts the blog "inHissteps". This comes from the first scripture God gave to me on this "Glocal" mission we have started(a new word for "global" and "local").